A LIVERPOOL nurse who tortured an 85-year-old dementia sufferer was today struck off.

David Hill, 49, came in front of a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing this week, after being jailed for six months in May last year.

The panel heard how he tormented wheelchair-bound Dorothy Tunstall while working as the dementia unit manager at Victoria Care Home in Rainford, St Helens.

He would wait until senior managers went home before dripping yoghurt on her face, force-feeding her and spinning her round in a hoist while she screamed out in distress.

Care staff reported his abuse in March 2009. after watching him squirt water at her with a syringe and drop food on her.

Hill also swore at other residents and joked about taking them to suicide clinics in Switzerland, the London panel heard.

Home manager Siobahn Dean told the panel the allegations relating to Mrs Tunstall had been reported to her by several staff members when she returned from annual leave.

She said: “I was told he was force-feeding her and squirted water at her through a syringe.

“He hoisted her up and down while another member of care staff spun her around in the hoist.

“What I was told was that he was aware the resident did not like being in the hoist and it distressed her.

“He also allegedly sang "Happy Birthday" and was using swear words in the song to this particular resident. He was also heard to say to other residents, "Good morning, who'd like to go to Switzerland for a cocktail?"' “There were further allegations that he had been involved in a confrontation with another resident.” The allegations relating to residents other than Mrs Tunstall, who has since died, did not form part of the criminal charges that Hill pleaded guilty to, she added.

Care assistant Kathleen Roberts, 58, was sentenced alongside him at Liverpool Crown Court for her part in the abuse.

She was given four month jail term, suspended for 18 months.

Mrs Dean added: 'I didn't see anything that would make me question that there was anything untoward. “However, I was told that he used to wait for me to leave my office. I think what he did was disgraceful– the fact that somebody feels they can treat somebody else in this way.

“I'm very, very alarmed that somebody who calls themselves a registered professional thinks they can act in such a way.

“I do wonder, and this is my personal view, but if somebody has been nursing for 26 years is this the first time they've been caught?

“Has it been going on elsewhere?' “Mr Hill's actions demonstrate a very concerning lack of compassion and basic humanity,” said Linda Nxumalo, for the NMC. 'He has demonstrated a lack of insight and there is a real risk of repetition. “In email correspondence with the NMC, he refutes all these matters and denies that he had done anything wrong. 'In some of the emails he has stated that he pleaded guilty on bad advice from his representatives and has given a lot of information seeking to go behind the conviction. “He has made it quite clear that he has no intention of returning to the nursing profession.” Hill did not attend the in London and was believed to be working at a botox clinic in Spain.